Several Namesakes to Run in Saeima Elections; Three Roberts Bērziņš

The candidate lists for the 2026 Saeima elections reveal eight cases where candidates share the exact same first and last name. In seven instances, there are two candidates with identical names, and in one case, three.

Among the name pairs are Andris Grīnbergs (one from "We Change the Rules", the other from JKP), Andris Petrovs (New Unity and "Sovereign Power"/"New Latvians"), Jānis Patmalnieks ("Rising Sun for Latvia" and New Unity), Jānis Urbanovičs (both from Harmony Centre but in different districts), Māris Puriņš ("For Latvia's Development" and New Unity), Ronalds Kalniņš (National Alliance and ZZS), and Viktors Valainis ("Latvia First" and ZZS).

The three Robert Bērziņš all run for the "New Latvians" but in different electoral regions: Zemgale, Vidzeme, and Kurzeme.

In total, 1,434 candidates have been registered for the 2026 elections – 946 men and 488 women. The most common male first name is Jānis (81 candidates), followed by Andris (42), Mārtiņš (27), Māris (25), and Aleksandrs (24). The most frequent male surnames are Kalniņš (8), Bērziņš (7), Zariņš (6), Āboliņš and Krūmiņš (4 each).

Among female candidates, the top first names are Dace (16), Kristīne (15), Inese (14), Iveta and Līga (11 each). The most common female surnames are Ozola (5), Liepiņa (4), Zālīte, Lapiņa, and Mihailova (3 each).

Fourteen party lists will participate in the elections, which are scheduled for the first Saturday of October.